The European Investment Bank (EIB), the long-term financing institution of the European Union (EU), is set to contribute EUR 33.4 million (ESP 5.5 million) (1) towards financing the Txorierri Corridor, the missing link in the ring road north of Bilbao, capital of the province of Vizcaya. It will fund this project in collaboration with Banco Bilbao Vizcaya Argentaria (BBVA) and Bilbao Bizkaia Kutxa (BBK).
The project will help to improve road links in the Greater Bilbao area, one of the Basque Country's most highly industrialised and densely populated regions. The 9.5 km section will cross a hilly area, necessitating construction of some 750 metres of tunnels and a number of viaducts. When finished, it will provide an alternative route to the A 8 motorway where it passes through Bilbao, a section suffering from frequent jams due to the extremely high traffic density. It will also improve access to the new terminal at Bilbao airport.
BIDEAK S.A., a company created by the Territorio Histórico de Vizcaya for the purpose of planning, building, maintaining and operating infrastructure in the Basque Country, and wholly owned by that entity, will be responsible for implementing the project.
The EIB was founded in 1958 under the Treaty of Rome, which created the European Economic Community, with the aim of fostering enhanced integration, balanced development and economic and social cohesion in the Member States by providing long-term financing for capital investment furthering attainment of EU objectives. It supports viable projects: fostering development of the EU's less favoured regions; targeting construction of trans-European transport, telecoms and energy networks; bolstering the international competitiveness and integration of European industry, particularly SMEs; safeguarding and improving the environment; endowing the EU with secure energy supplies; and promoting health and education facilities. Within certain limits, it also extends financing outside the Union in pursuit of the latter's policy of cooperation with third countries.
Owned by the EU Member States, the EIB funds its lending operations through borrowings raised on the capital markets, where its bond issues systematically enjoy the top AAA rating.
(1) EUR 1 = ESP 166.386, GBP 0.5966